This is a dark fantasy setting I made for a PBP game that went nowheres. I've resurrected it for Infrno.net but figured I'd share what I've got here as well:

Eschaton

Population: Approximately 150,000.

Government: The Triumverate, a three-person council, rules Eschaton. Each triumvir has control of a Shard, a distinct district which comprises one quarter of the city-state. They collectively control the Core, the central district of Eschaton. The Triumverate theoretically shares power with the Syndicate, a subcommittee of thirteen officials elected by the major guilds and merchant houses of Eschaton, but in practice the Syndicate is only a puppet organization.

Defense: The primary defense force of Eschaton is the Capistrates, a hooded company of militia who serve the Triumverate. They function as the police of Eschaton but are notoriously brutal and corrupt. They are protected from their numerous enemies by oaths of secrecy and the demonic masks they wear under their hoods. Each Shard has several Capistrate precincts, but the quality and number of officers varies wildly from one to another. Each triumvir has their own company of Janissaries, also, but these elite mercenaries answer only to their one master and serve mainly as bodyguards and special agents. Some guilds and merchant houses have mercenary hirelings as well, but these hirelings are not particularly known for their loyalty or expertise.

Inns and Taverns: Eschaton has a number of notable resthouses, each reflecting the character and subculture of its particular Shard. The Rusty Canakin in the Rookery is a shabby but large flophouse used by numerous transients and refugees. Jack Ketch's in the Cromlech is a well-appointed but fairly cold and grim inn that looks over a drop into the Big Empty. The Shattered Swords in the Fastness is a somewhat rough and tumble bar, but features good service and an excellent selection of drinks. The Vanner Hawk of the Core is probably the finest of several inns in the central district, being home to many friends and relations of the Syndicate.

Supplies: The major marketplace in Eschaton is the Guildhall, located near the exit from the Fastness in the Core. It is home to several stalls and shops owned and operated by the assorted guilds and houses of the city and is a miniature storehouse of artifacts from around the fading world. As a central center of commerce, it is constantly packed with an assortment of refugees, beggars, merchants, mercenaries, nobles, courtesans, and entertainers. The Rookery is home to a number of shadier marketplaces, including the Flea Market, a rooftop bazaar that specializes in slaves and blacklisted items.

Temples: The only legal temples in Eschaton are those praising the Triumverate (known as hiakals), but the abundant refugee population and state of affairs has resulted in a large number of secret temples hidden in basements, back alleys, and old crypts. These concealed shrines pay homage to a wide variety of deities and spirits, but the most common ones are those dedicated to the Cabiri, the dead gods who disappeared over a century ago.

The Shards of Eschaton

Founded 300 years ago by its current members, the Triumverate is the ruling body in Eschaton, the Vergent City. Its members are former adventurers who helped to defend the city-state from the Deadborn and the Emptiness and became elevated to the status of heroic city leaders. Rendered immortal by some side effect of the Last Morning, each of them possesses magical power, martial skills, and great political influence over the factions of the city. While they were once good friends, their relations have become cold and purely pragmatic over time, now focused only on how they can utilize one another for their own ends.

Each of them controls a Shard, a personally devised district of the city-state, and they tend to leave the other triumvirs to take care of their own. These Shards (the Cromlech, Fastness, and Rookery) reflect the interests, virtues, and vices of their respective triumvir, and they therefore attract and forbid particular kinds of inhabitants. They also jointly rule over the Shard known as the Core, the center of the city and their base of power.

The Cromlech: The Cromlech is ruled by the Thanatope and is built over a large network of above and below-ground tombs and crypts. It is home to much of the financial and academic power of Eschaton and is known to be haunted by ghosts and the undead. Most of these creatures serve the Thanatope's will but some are simply left over from his past experiments searching for the key to rejuvenation and eternal life. While it has a certain pale beauty about its classical architecture and gothic towers, it is also cold, forebidding, and eeriely quiet compared to the rest of the city. Only the wealthiest or most despondent refugees call it a permanent home and Eschatonians generally keep their distance if they can afford to. Intellectuals, artisans, and students cross the Warding Bridge from the Fastness relatively frequently, however, doing their studies in one of local workshops, schools, or libraries. The Great Bank of Eschaton has its home here, as does Eschaton University and a number of merchant houses. These have offices in Cromlech because their owners prefer the security and relative isolation offered by the grim district.

The Fastness: The Fastness was once no more than a gatehouse protecting the ancient roads into Eschaton. Now its the dominion of the Polemarch and the center of middle class power in the city. Protected on all sides by high walls and strategic towers, it is thought to be the most defensible section of the metropolis, even more so than the Core. As a result, there are many residences clustered here and a number of noble families keep second homes in the district in the case of attack. The Capistrates headquarters is located in this Shard, as are the halls of several successful mercenary guilds. More accomodating than the Rookery and warmer than the Cromlech, its downside is the strict, militaristic rule maintained by the Capistrates and the Polemarch's Janissaries. Peace and order are enforced by neighbors spying on neighbors and an atmosphere of repression mirrored in the boxy architecture and grid-like streets. Speaking against the Polemarch is forbidden and many "weakening" philosophies, religions, and sciences are also taboo. The main source of entertainment in the Fastness is the Colosseum, a bloodsport arena where ambitious mercenaries, hapless slaves, or condemned criminals fight one another and assorted creatures. There is a monthly tradition at the Colosseum of elaborate recreations of historical battles from the world's glorious past, including naval conflicts staged on a massive water tank.

The Rookery: The Rookery is the largest Shard of Eschaton by far and also the most populous. Home to roughly half of the city's inhabitants, it is a wretched industrialized slum overseen by the ironically titled Philanthropist. Spilling over with refugees, paupers, laborers, and criminal scum, its narrow streets, uneven tenements, millhouses and warehouses are the picture of urban despair. The guilds and merchant houses that do business here often do so in secret so as to not draw attention to themselves or their wares. There's a busy trade in items deemed illegal in the Core, Cromlech, or Fastness, and many Eschatonians visit the Shard when indulging their vices. Slavery is a booming business here, with numerous unfortunates finding their way into the control of cruel drivers who serve the desires and needs of Core nobility. Some are simply lured into a dark alley and abducted, some are forced into servitude by debts, but whatever the case they typically end up in lifelong drudgery. The laborers fare little better, having a poor income, few opportunities for advancement, and regular exposure to hazardous materials and machinery. Despite this, the Philanthropist is one of the more visible triumvirs, regularly visiting the Rookery with an entourage to oversee its operation and her personal plots. While things are plainly bad on the streets, her liberal attitude and calculated charity make her more popular in her Shard than either of her fellow triumvirs.

The Core: The triumvirs collectively control the Core, the central district of the city and once the sole domain of the Syndicate. They meet several times a month in the Tower of the Hagiarchy to discuss affairs that concern the entirety of Eschaton and moderate the periodic meetings of the Syndicate, the guilds, and merchant houses. Only the wealthiest and most priveleged members of Eschaton society call the Core home, living lavish, decadent lives in expansive mansions placed high on Halcyon Hill. Protected from the unpleasantness occurring in the other Shards by personal guards and the best mercenaries money can buy, they tend to have fairly remote and inaccurate views of the world. Several of the more potent nobles are able to completely isolate themselves from even the Core, creating wondrous palaces of delights meant to evoke memories of life before the Last Morning. This hedonism is often supported by shares in merchant houses, slaves from the Rookery, and baubles collected from hired expeditions into the Cromlech. High society is not all fun and games, however, as many nobles are also politically important figures who have to maneuver through the often contentious affairs of the Syndicate and the Triumverate. Behind the scenes games of intrigue, scandal mongering, and assassination can make for a life as scary as that of a beggar in the Rookery.

I had a thought to follow Mr Anderson's suggestion, perhaps you could make each one of the outer circles of the Biohazard symbol reflect the style and theme of each shard.. ghostly for Cromlech, towers for Fastness

Here's what I have for the Triumvirs, the corrupt rulers of Eschaton. They are pretty much Mage, Fighter, and Thief taken to epic and cynical extremes...

The Triumvirs

The Thanatope, Lord of Cromlech, Master of Magic, Mad Necromancer

The Thanatope was once a wizard of considerable learning and power, renowned for his wisdom as well as his mastery of the arcane arts. An inventor and alchemist as well as a magician, he is generally credited with being the one who crafted the Churming Shroud, the magical barrier that has protected Eschaton from the Emptiness since the days of the Last Morning. When he was subsequently elevated to the status of Triumvir, he helped to solve most of the logistical problems of the isolation caused by the Shroud, producing artificial sunlight from the Canescence Engine, survivable crops such as hadder, and keeping air and heat flowing via elaborate caliducts. As with his fellow triumvirs, however, he eventually grew less interested in public welfare and more concerned with his personal survival and expansion of power. After helping the Philanthropist and Polemarch in the Purge of the Syndicate 200 years ago, he chose the district now known as the Cromlech to be his own Shard.

Fascinated by the magical discoveries that had come from defeating the Deadborn, he shut himself up in his palace and began increasingly dire experiments with necromancy, tephramancy, and other black arts. It was this experimentation that the surviving gods objected to most strongly, and it was the power he gained from it that allowed him and his two triumvir associates to slay them a century ago. Focusing on elevating himself to godhood and total immortality, he has since spiralled into a mad obsession with overcoming the forces of the Emptiness and making the universe over for his own whims. He is now considered the high priest of the Triumverate as well as its primary philosopher, and he demands ritualistic tribute from his minions.

The Polemarch, Lord of the Fastness, Master of War, Brutal Tyrant

The Polemarch was once a great warrior who aided the other two triumvirs in beating back the Deadborn and securing the safety of Eschaton. He was rewarded with a posting as a military officer serving the Syndicate, and he served faithfully in that capacity for a century. Gifted with a brilliant strategic mind but cursed with the same ambition that haunts his fellow triumvirs, he was the main architect of the Purge of the Syndicate and the creation of the Shards. By crushing the power of his political enemies in carefully prepared ambushes and raids, he was able to become the Supreme Commander of the Vergent City military and the primary enforcer of the Triumverate's rule. When he was discontent with the performance of the city's old militia, he created the Order of Capistrates, soldiers who underwent a secret initiation and training regimen that turned them into his fantatical servants.

Armed with the Capistrates, he later set about a miniature campaign of conquest around the borders of the Fastness, his chosen Shard. This resulted in the brief War of the Triumverate, a bloody and bitter struggle with the Thanatope and Philanthropist which he ultimately lost after three months. Control of the Capistrates and the secrets of their order was now shared between the Triumverate rather than resting with him alone, a concession he made after several costly but ultimately futile assassination attempts made against his rivals failed. After stewing over this humiliation for some five decades, the Polemarch helped his former enemies plot out his most recent triumph, the massacre of the few remaining gods still troubling them with divine concerns. He has since turned his attention more closely to the running of affairs in the Fastness, enforcing increasingly draconian measures on its inhabitants and shoring up its defenses. Whether this is the result of foreknowledge of some coming plot or simply paranoia is currently unknown.

The Philanthropist, Lady of the Rookery, Mistress of Cunning, Corrupted Slavemaster

The Philanthropist was once a citizen of the slums of Eschaton who helped the Polemarch and Thanatope in fighting the Deadborn. When the city was saved and she was suddenly elevated to the rank of triumvir, she turned her attention immediately to trying to help the less fortunate and the incoming flood of refugees. Using her old contacts in the city's criminal underworld, she established a number of guilds and charitable organizations that were intended to provide a secure and welcoming home to every starving immigrant and pauper on the street. While initially successful, the Philanthropist's social experiments grew more elaborate and costly as time went on, forcing her to make more and more concessions to the Syndicate, the merchant houses, and her lawless associates. After an unspecified incident that most suspect to have been a failed assassination attempt, she talked her fellow triumvirs into ridding themselves of their rivals for power in the city. The Purge of the Syndicate followed, but this more public atrocity was accompanied by quieter, subtler maneuverings that ended the political careers and lives of many others - maneuverings orchestrated by a hardened and more ruthless Philanthropist.

In the 200 years since the Purge, the Philanthropist gathered up control of the underworld and many guilds and merchant houses, deciding that she ultimately knew what was best for her people. Using her extensive influence to garner the largest share of the city when picking her Shard, she established the Rookery and began new plans for an open and trade-friendly district. Using inventions loaned to her by the increasingly disinterested Thanatope, she created an industrial center in the Rookery that was powered by elements of still found in Eschaton. She little suspected at the time that the Thanatope had foreseen the health hazards caused by the machinery's pollution and purposefully given her the devices to weaken her power base. A blood disease known as Cachaemia soon ravaged the citizens of the Rookery and caused the frustrated Philanthropist to take drastic steps to prevent its spread and the protests of her subjects. After a campaign of cutthroat efficiency to eliminate the leaders of dissent, she decided ultimately to create a class of slaves and laborers who would work the machines and spare the rest of the Rookery its effects. After some of the more merciful gods objected, she helped her fellow triumvirs in slaying them and turned back to her work. She has since discarded numerous other ideals she once held sacred, enforcing her will in the squalid district through her crooked Capistrate officers, slavemasters, and criminal hirelings.

Boeotians: Large nation of industrialists and capitalists whose home was claimed by the Deadborn after a long war. They are typically seen as crass, talkative, and impulsive. Found everywhere in Eschaton, they commonly find work as merchants, soldiers, or laborers. Some are merchant lords or members of the Syndicate.

Cambrions: People from the coastal lands south of Eschaton, mainly sailors and fishermen. Considered by many to be a grim, selfish, and dour race. Found mainly in the Cromlech, the Fastness, or the Core, they often find work as laborers, innkeepers, and servants to the uppertendom. A few have managed to get seats in Syndicate.

Cyrenaics: Tattooed and tribalistic people who joined together to form the city-state of Cyrenaica, home to many philosophers and astrologers before it was destroyed by the Deadborn. Currently looked down on by many cultures as primitives and simple-minded warriors. They are mainly in the Rookery and work as laborers, soldiers, bodyguards, slaves, and criminals.

Eschatonians: People native to the city-state of Eschaton, inventive and productive. They are collectively seen as duplicitous and stubborn by other cultures. They are the dominant group in Eschaton and don't let the refugees from other lands forget it. Most PCs should be Eschatonian.

Izedi: A people that worshiped nature spirits who turned out to be in league with the Deadborn. Their priests used many of them as sacrifices in the Wrackful Ritual that destroyed their steppes homeland. Their typical stereotype is as fatalistic cynics and superstitious mystics. They are found in the Rookery, the Cromlech, and occasionally in the Fastness working as priests, servants, and artisans.

Lydian: A nation of artists, poets, and scholars, they were members of the most advanced culture of the World That Was. Viewed as corrupt and debauched by others, these pleasure-seeking intellectuals were caught unawares by Deadborn. They are mainly found in the Cromlech, the Fastness, and the Core, typically finding employment as artists, teachers, and advisors to the uppertendom. Some of the Lydians' wealth rivals that of the merchant lords.

Singalese: People from the distant and industrious island nation of Singal, once ruled by a god-emperor who was slain by the Deadborn. Most other cultures think of them as weak, strange, and overly mysterious. They are mostly found in the Rookery, finding work as laborers, slaves, servants, and machinists.

Yezdegerdians: A race of nomads who created the vast desert empire of Yezdegerd before it was utterly consumed by a massive sandstorm called the Samiel. They are typically seen as brutal and greedy by other cultures. They are found all over Eschaton working as merchants, artisans, servants, and laborers.

Zingaro: Mountain people who lost their homeland of Zingar to the first Deadborn, now a race of wanderers. Looked down upon as rogues, cheats, and accursed by other cultures. They are found mostly in the Rookery and work as entertainers, criminals, slaves, and artisans.

Languages

Attic: Language of Lydia, often spoken by scholars and priests. Similar to Greek or Latin.

Cyrenaic: Language of Cyrenaica.

Singalese: Language of Singal.

Telugu: Language of the Izedi and Yezdegerdians.

Volapuk: Language of Eschaton, Boeotia, and the Cambri Isles; a polyglot established centuries ago and now spoken by most of surviving humanity. Equivalent to "Common".

Cabriri: Once the main religion of Eschaton, Boeotia, the Cambri Isles, and Lydia. Pantheistic, akin to Roman and Greek deities, now outlawed as heresy following the deaths of the Cabriri themselves but still practiced in secret.

Diplopia: Belief that the loss of this universe has resulted in the creation of a mirror universe that is akin to a paradise, technically heresy but popular among uppertendom.

Hagia Trium: Worship of the Triumverate as divine saviors of mankind, instituted in Eschaton 100 years ago as the one true way.

Izedi: Worship of nature spirits subsequently thought to be agents of the Deadborn, outlawed as heresy but still practiced in secret.

Necrolatry: Worship of the dead who are thought to have ascended to spiritual prominence, outlawed as heresy but still practiced in secret, particularly common in the Cromlech.

Targum: Worship of elder religious texts from a cult that supposedly foretold the fall of man, native to Yezdegerd, outlawed as heresy but still followed in secret by many.

Tenebrae: Worship of the darkness, the Deadborn, The Big Empty, all cults of Tenebrae were supposedly hunted to the point of extinction long ago.

Vacuism: Belief in the fundamental emptiness of the universe and that all things must return to the vacuum, outlawed as heresy but still practiced in secret.

Zeteticism: Belief that humanity cannot comprehend truth or relative value, skeptics and rationalists, anti-dogma, popular among academics, outlawed as heresy but still practiced in secret.

The Deadborn

The Deadborn, the Tenebrous Ones, the Empty, were the greatest enemies known to the World That Was. These strange creatures came out of the shadows of the night sky, and with them came the near total-destruction of all existence. There are many theories about their origins and what motivated them to unravel creation and create the Big Empty, but none was ever been confirmed. For most of mankind, it was enough to know that they had terrible dark power, insane and evil plans, and sought to obliterate all of existence. The fact that some human cults (the Tenebrae) worshiped them as some sort of "true" deities is a disturbing but often neglected fact.

There were once many dozens of Deadborn, but the ones most people of Eschaton know are:

Jagnatha: Massive Deadborn who grew as the Emptiness overtook the World That Was, Impossibly strong, also known as The Juggernaut and The Growing Corpse, slain by the Triumverate.

Caliga: Secretive and stealthy Deadborn who crept into the World That Was first and helped to conceal the Deadborn, their plots and their agents, also known as The Lady of Mists and Hider of Truths, slain by the Triumverate.

Ronion: Bestial Deadborn who bore terrible wounds that never healed and which brought plagues and madness, also known as The Mange and Disease Dog, slain by the Triumverate.

Vermipar: Horrible worm-like Deadborn who infected inanimate things and used them against the living, also known as The Burrower and Worm Maker, slain by the Triumverate.

Thamuuz: Charismatic and duplicitous Deadborn who led the Izedi in worship of nature spirits, betrayed his followers and sacrificed many in the Wrackful Ritual, also known as The Great Liar and Baseless, slain by the Triumverate.

Feaze: Constantly changing Deadborn who spread confusion, worry, and anxiety throughout the World That Was, also known as The Mad One and Pell Mell, slain by the Triumverate.

Redrum: Bloodthirsty Deadborn who encouraged wars, mass slaughter, executions, and murder, also known as The Ripper and Vivisector, slain by the Triumverate.

The Cabriri

The Cabriri were the gods who claimed to have created the World That Was in ages past. As a family-like pantheon with individual portfolios and aspects, they were rivals as often as they were allies. All of them demanded tributes from their mortal followers, but the nature of these offerings varied from god to god and temple to temple. They were worshiped in Lydia, the Cambri Isles, Eschaton, and Boetia, with other nations and cultures looking on them as potent but not divine spirits. With their downfall at the hands of the Triumverate a century ago, the official line in Eschaton is now that they were non-divine pretenders who tried to usurp the "rightful" rulers of all things. This has not prevented some of the city-state's inhabitants still making offerings to them, but this activity is always done in secret for fear of Capistrate discovery of such heresy.

The chief deities of the pantheon of Cabriri were:

Mascag: The White God, Father of the World, Chieftain of the Cabriri, Transformer, God of Fires, Earth, Forges, Farming, Eschaton, slain by the Triumverate. Mascag had the most temples, icons, and priests in the World That Was, and he was also the patron of Eschaton. Some claim the Triumvirs were cursed by him upon his death, explaining their current cruelty and madness. Others note that Mascag himself was something of a dictatorial bastard.

Canthara: The Green God, The Fly God, God of Insects, Poison, Medicine, Drink, Drugs, Sex, slain by the Philanthropist. There are tales of a secret cult dedicated to Canthara still existing in the Rookery, operating as assassins and spies without peer.

Sinopis: The Red God, The Sturdy God, Builder, God of Industry, War, Production, Labor, Machines, Strength, slain by the Polemarch. Sinopis is regularly blamed for the fall of the World That Was in Triumvir propaganda; as the deity dedicated to conflict, the documents claim it was in his interest to stage the Deadborn Invasion.

Volbor: The Copper God, The Glittering God, Conductor, God of Wealth, Crystals, Gems, Travel, Trade, Magic, slain by the Thanatope. Up until a century ago, most merchants and guild houses had statues dedicated to Volbor in their halls and residences. Those icons have since been defaced or replaced by representations of the Thanatope.

Necron: The Black God, The Fetid God, Decayer, God of Spirits, Ancestors, Pottery, History, Knowledge, slain by the Thanatope. Some believe Necron is responsible for the creation of the Deadborn. Others believe the Thanatope keeps him chained in a prison as his personal slave. In these and other cases, theorists point to the fact that men, women, and children still die as evidence that he is still around in some capacity.

Massicot: The Yellow God, The Xanthic God, Shapeshifter, Deity of Creativity, Art, Culture, Change, slain by the Polemarch. With Massicot's death, some claim, Eschaton will always remain under the rule of the Triumverate (or A Triumverate, should the current one be usurped). This has been used as an excuse for the stagnant state of the arts world, which continues to churn out historical and nostalgic imagery honoring the Triumvirs.

Here's the intro from the Infrno.net site. Its located somewhere in the midst of the wall of text you get due to all the blog entries:

Quote

Welcome to Eschaton, the Vergent City, the City on the Precipice.

It is all that is left of the World That Was, a faint, flickering candle floating within an eternal night. The three heroes who saved this fragment of human existence became the Triumverate, powerful rulers of all within. In the three centuries since, they have become corrupt, ruthless, and terrible, casting down all rivals to their power - even the gods whose world was lost.

One of the three, now known to her subjects as The Philanthropist, claimed dominion the industrial slum called the Rookery. Home to thousands of slaves, laborers, and refugees, it is the largest Shard and also the most dangerous. Great mills and factories churn out thick pollution into the black sky, cutthroats lurk in every alleyway, and the Capistrate militia cruelly enforces the will of their mistress. Where there is great desperation, however, the powerful can also find men and women willing to risk their lives for a chance of escape.

Several such people can be found in the Rookery Gaol. Sentenced to execution, enslavement, or life in a rusty cage for a variety of crimes against the city-state, they are offered a last moment alternative; perform a job for the head of one of the Shard's trade guilds and they will gain their freedom, their crimes expunged from the records of the Capistrate's clerks. The catch? To finish this deed, they must descend into the depths of the Cromlech, the haunted Shard ruled by the dread Thanatope, the Mad Necromancer.